Completed | We've all been tempted by the forbidden...
When Harper Lewis agreed to marry Ryan Hale to save her family's business, she wasn't expecting to never have an orgasm again. Sure, Ryan was handsome and an all-around good guy, but they lacked...
"What's up, Mom?" I asked as we got to my room. She suggested we talk in private so we came upstairs.
"We need to talk, Harper. About the wedding."
Christ, what now? "Okay...what about it?"
She started pacing and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know how important this merger is, right?"
"Yes," I answered, no idea where this was going.
"You know that your father and I are depending on you to do this, right?"
"Yes, Mom. What's this about?"
She stopped pacing and met my stare. "So, why are you trying to get out of it?"
Wait...what? "I'll admit I'm not crazy about this whole thing, but I haven't done anything to get out of it."
She raised a brow. "So, it's just a coincidence that you decided to invite your friends to a family gathering? And it's also a coincidence that you planned your bachelorette party here, too?"
She was really starting to piss me off. "I invited them to my wedding vacation because they are in the wedding, Mom. We had already planned my bachelorette party before you sprung this on me."
She scoffed before saying, "Please, Harper. You've been trying to ruin this since the beginning. You refused to find a dress, you refuse to quit your job, you--"
"Wait a minute. I will not quit my job to satisfy you and dad or Ryan's parents. Teaching is what I love. I worked hard to become a teacher and I'm not giving that up. I'm already giving up my chance to find love for the sake of--"
Nothing in my life shocked me more than my mother slapping me across my face. My eyes watered at the pain and I clutched my cheek with my hand.
I couldn't speak as I saw her expression. She wasn't sorry for what she did. But there was fear in her eyes, too.
"Stop being selfish, Harper. Love is for children and fairy tales. You are going to marry Ryan. You are going to quit your job in the fall and work for his family. There is no other option."
I didn't move or say anything as my mom left the room. I stood there for what seemed like hours before finally going into my bedroom. I was dazed as I crawled into my bed and did something I hadn't done in awhile.
I cried.
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When I finally woke up, it was almost one in the morning. After the fight with my mother, I stayed in my room for the night. Ryan had come by looking for me earlier, wondering where I went. I simply told him I wasn't feeling well. I used the excuse that I was in the sun too long and needed to rest. I told the same thing to my friends when they came up here looking for me. After they sent me a dozen text messages that went ignored.
Still in my bathing suit, I felt a chill as I threw off my blanket. I finally gathered enough energy and crawled out of my bed to go into the bathroom. As soon as I flipped the bathroom light on, I sucked in a short breath. On the left side of my face, where she slapped me, was a faint bruise. It was light, but it was also noticeable up close.
